Behind the Sea
by buttlos
Summary: Ever since Jett slipped into the picture, Logan has been feeling insecure about his relationship with Kendall. Carlos, being his best friend, wants to do what he can to make Logan feel better, and what better way to do that than guy's night out.


**hey guys! so this is going to be a two-shot little diddy based on a roleplay that i'm in. well, i guess, technically it's going to be a three-shot, since i'm planning on there being two different endings. maybe. it really depends if you guys want there to be two different ends, and which one you'd prefer if you'd rather have just one.**

**one ending if for logan and carlos to just stay friends and have awesome best friend time at the beach.**

**the other is something a little more *~*romantic*~* happens between them, despite logan being with kendall and (though it's never really stated in this chapter) carlos with james. OOO THE DRAMA. i am such a sucker for it, ngl.**

**but yeah, that's about it for the endings. of course, they only apply if you want me to continue this! in the rp, nothing really happened, since we never got to finish their ~beach day, which is why i'm juggling options here. hohohoho.**

**anyway - enough with my rambling, and onto the story!**

**_warning/disclaimer - _there are a few """bad words""" and implied slash, but that's it. and i don't own anything. nope.**

* * *

It was a pretty average night in apartment 2J – nothing too special, aside from Carlos being the only one there and awake. Kendall and Logan were out together doing who knows what while James and Carlos decided to stay home. Even with James there, Carlos was, in essence, by himself since his taller friend was up in their room, taking what he called an "evening beauty nap". He didn't really mind being the only one awake, because that just meant dibs on the T.V. and he could watch as much Spongebob as his little heart desired. He usually liked kicking back and watching stuff with James, but apparently there was "only so much of Spongebob's voice he could take" before we stalked off to sleep, leaving Carlos a pouty blob on the couch as he watched the cartoon on his own. After a couple of times of this happening, the Latino had gotten used to it and he really didn't care about getting ditched anymore, so long as he could still watch his shows.

Carlos strode into the kitchen as soon as there was a commercial break and whipped out two corndogs from the freezer, popping them into the microwave. Yeah, nuked corndogs were the worst, but after the baking fiasco with Mercedes and the cookies, everyone found it in the apartment's best interest (and everyone that was living inside its best interest too) if they banned Carlos from using the oven again. He still had full use of the stove, despite everyone else protesting, but Mrs. Knight knew that Carlos absolutely adores cooking and she just couldn't take that privilege away from him. A few minutes passed and Carlos threw open the microwave door as soon as it beeped, quickly removing the corndogs and plopping back down onto the couch, eyes glued on the T.V. He was well into his second corndog, thoroughly engrossed into his show before he nearly jumped out of his pants at the sound of the front door slamming shut.

Looking back over his shoulder, the corndog still hanging halfway out of his mouth, Carlos watched Logan hesitantly as he walked in with his fists clenched tight and looking positively pissed off. He shrunk down a bit into the couch, the other boy stomping into the kitchen and grumbling something under his breath, quickly grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge. As much as he wanted to say something to his obviously enraged friend, the tension and frustration hanging in the air was enough to choke him; not to mention the fear of saying something that could potentially get himself hurt in some way was holding him back. Absent mindedly, Carlos chewed on the corndog, half of him wishing Logan would just say something already and the other half wishing he wasn't there at all. Being around an angry Logan was just unsettling. Logan doesn't get _that_ mad, ever, and on the off chance that he does, it's best to stay clear.

"I want to kill him," the seething boy finally said after a few grueling minutes passed, subconsciously gripping harder at the bottle in his hand. Carlos winced as the bottle crinkled and cried out under the pressure, the owner of the hand not even caring it if was loud or if it burst open and spilled everywhere.

Kill is such a powerful word, especially when used in such a serious manner. Yeah, sure, they've all joked around about killing each other and stuff, but they would never, ever mean it. None of them were crazy enough for that kind of thing. So hearing that word coming out of Logan's mouth and sounding so serious about it was scary, to say the least.

The Latino shrunk down in his seat a second time, darting his eyes around the room, just trying to look everywhere but at his friend. The air around them was growing so uncomfortable, almost suffocating and Carlos wanted nothing more than to clear up. Even with the possibility of getting his head chewed off, the boy decided it was time to ask about his friend's less than happy state.

"Um…who?" Carlos asked around the corndog, still avoiding looking directly at Logan. He munched on his snack carefully, hearing the other let out a heavy sigh, slamming the water bottle back on the counter.

"Jett! He's such a pompous jerk!" His left hand dug its way into the soft, brown hair, noticeably gripping hard at the roots. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if Logan's fingernails were scraping against his scalp, but from the looks of it, the boy couldn't possibly care less if they were. When anyone is _that _upset, the last thing that's on their mind is self-inflicted pain. "I try being nice to him, but he obviously doesn't _want_ to make any friends," the boy continued as his words came out rushed and slurred with frustration. Carlos only blinked, silently urging Logan to continue as he stared intently, finally landing his eyes on Logan and not even paying attention to what was left of his corndog.

"Especially with me," Logan finally said after a few long moments of silence. He was calm now. The tension in the room was still ve ry much noticeable, but it was slowly escaping through the cracks in the doors and windows to dissipate into nothing. What a relief.

The silence returned, Carlos not really sure what to say or if he should even say anything. One look at the other's face and anyone could tell that there was more to be said, but the words were visibly trapped in his mouth. He swallowed harshly, trying to keep the words at bay as they screamed for freedom. Contemplation flashed across the smart boy's face as his brain went into overdrive, going into the same mode he does when he starts to think too much on a situation. He really did want to say more, he just wasn't sure if he was ready to tell Carlos everything else going through his mind. But Carlos is his best friend and he quickly pushed that uncertainty away because he knew for a fact that Carlos would want him to say everything. Even if he didn't, Carlos would find some way of getting Logan to spill just because he's _Carlos_ and he has a certain way about him.

Despite the hatred that so evidently leaked out of his ears, Logan's eyes suddenly became glazed over with a slight sadness, the anger that was there previously quickly being masked and pushed aside. Logan hated Jett and Jett hated him back-that was obvious enough to anyone with a set of eyes. That fact shouldn't have bothered Logan as much as it did, since he knew that he's bound to have haters in his life at some point. In fact, he'd be perfectly okay with it under any other circumstances. The only reason that the hate cut so deeply was because Jett hates Logan for no valid reason, and it stung.

And yes, Logan very much had a valid reason for disliking Jett as much as he did. For one, Jett is a total chode. That would've been a good enough reason in and of itself if James didn't act so similarly. It was hard to dislike him completely because of that considering one of his best friends is the same way, and he loves James. But on top of his crappy personality, Jett had made it very clear that he had a major crush on Kendall and would do anything to make sure the blonde is his and not Logan's. That was just not okay. Kendall was, is, and always will be Logan's and _only _Logan's.

The brunette let out a defeated and heavy sigh before making his way to the bar stool chairs. He swiveled around to face Carlos, leaning back against the counter as he continued.

"You know what he said to me?" Logan laughed, a bitterness laced so strongly into the hallow sound that Carlos could _taste_ it. "He told me that I don't deserve to have Kendall…"

Oh.

Carlos shifted uncomfortably, finally swallowing the corndog mush that had been sitting in his mouth for the past few minutes. The lump went down with a bit of difficulty, the consistency so thick it formed a hard blob in his throat, pressing tightly against the walls of his esophagus. For a brief moment, he wished that he had something to drink to help soothe the pain in his throat, but he quickly snapped back into reality, remembering that there were more pressing matters to attend to. Like Logan and the crushed look he wore that was so horrible on him.

"Hey…no…," the Latino started slowly and so very carefully. He rose himself from the orange cushions, moving to where the other sat, situating himself on the second bar stool. "Dude, that is so not true. You deserve Kendall more than anyone!" Leaning an elbow on the counter, Carlos brought a tan hand to the top of his own head, resting against it. Fingers scraped across his scalp as if that would somehow help him to figure out what exactly he should say next. Never in his sixteen years of life had he ever had to deal with something like that. His brain just couldn't find the right words to say.

Logan looked to his friend, a small smile on his face; a smile that didn't quite reach his sullen eyes. Just as soon as that smile formed, it dropped as he cast his eyes downward. He spoke softly, so quietly that Carlos had to hold his breath in order to hear.

"What if he leaves me, Carlos?"

"…what?"

Now Carlos was literally on the edge of his seat, leaning as close to Logan as he could possibly get, trying to blink passed the sudden confusion that clouded his mind.

Logan sucked in a harsh breath and scratched the back of his head nervously. It sounded almost like he was fighting off a wave of tears and all the bad emotions that came with, but Logan didn't cry. Not since he was a kid, with the exception of the first time he met Gustavo.

He started talking again, slowly and hesitantly as if he wasn't sure if he really wanted to free the words locked in his throat.

"What if Jett wins? What if Jett gets Kendall and he leaves me? Then I'll be all alone…"

"No!" Carlos blurted out immediately, his voice a little higher that it usually is. His eyebrows knit tightly together as worry washed over him, looking to his friend. "That will _never_ happen, okay? Kendall loves you way too much to ever leave you."

Even with those words said, Logan help his gaze to the floor and Carlos was pretty sure there were holes starting to burn into the wood. His body was slumped over, those pale arms tucked in tightly against his stomach. Carlos wrapped a strong arm loosely around the tense shoulders of the distraught boy as he scooted closer, nudging slightly against his side.

"I have never seen someone so in love with another person in my life," Carlos continued as he cracked a grin even though he knew Logan couldn't see it. "Trust me, Logan. You guys are gonna be okay. I know I'm not an 'expert' at love like James is, but I know enough to be confident about what I said."

After what seemed like forever, the brunette looked up at Carlos, a small but genuine smile on his face. Looking at his eyes, anyone could see he still had doubt and fear deep inside, but for the most part, he was at ease. "Thanks, Carlos," he said as he reached up, giving a slight squeeze to Carlos' shoulder before dropping his hand to his lap. He had to laugh to himself about how uncharacteristically Carlos was being. It was a nice change to the immature, crazy normal Carlos he was used to, but it was too weird at the same time. Probably something he wouldn't ever want to get used to, if given the chance. Normal Carlos is and always will be the best kind of Carlos the world can ever know.

"You know what I think," the Latino started before taking a quick sip from Logan's abandoned water bottle. "I think you need to get out and have some fun."

"Some fun?" Logan parroted, raising his eyebrows high enough to disappear into his hair. "And what, pray tell, did you have in mind?"

With a grin and a shrug, Carlos replied, "Scuba diving."

"Scuba diving? Really."

A nod.

Logan shook his head in confusion. By now, all the worries that plagued his mind were officially pushed to the side as he tried to figure out why Carlos was suggesting that they go do something as off the wall as scuba diving. The smirk on the Latino's face was hard to miss. Oh, he knew that he had Logan thoroughly distracted from all that Jett drama, and he was relieved and satisfied with himself. "Why scuba diving?"

"I dunno. It's fun and I like fish?"

"No, you like fish_sticks_."

Carlos shrugged. "Whatever! Same thing!"

Just as Logan was about to protest, the shorter boy sprung from his seat and dashed to their respective bedrooms, leaving the other boy to sit in his confusion. A minute or so passed before Logan was knocked out of his dazed by clothing attacking his face with a hard smack. Which effectively caused him to flail and tumble out of his seat and onto the nice, hardwood floor.

How embarrassing.

Logan quickly pulled himself from the floor and held the offending cloth out to give it a nice hard glare only to notice it was a pair of his swim trunks. His eyebrows raised in question as he looked up to Carlos in question. "Why?"

"Because I don't have enough money for us to rent wetsuits," Carlos called from his room, obviously rushing to change. He quickly popped out from the room, charging down Swirly head first, screeching along the way, and stumbling back over to Logan with two towels in hand. "Unless you want to go naked or something," he mused, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Ew-no thanks," Logan shot back quickly, plodding into the bathroom to change.

"Don't act like I've never seen your white ass naked before!"

Carlos couldn't help but grin at the various crashing and thumping sounds that erupted from the bathroom not a second later, thoroughly amused with himself. A muffled _"Oh my God, shut up Carlos!" _followed soon after, once all the obvious flailing and knocking things over had ceased. It didn't take much to get Logan flustered and they all knew. Kendall was definitely aware of that fact and he would take advantage of it at any possible moment. Second in line was Carlos, since they were best friends and for some reason thought that he had some kind of legal obligation to make Logan as uncomfortable and awkward as possible when no one else was around.

It was almost like he was flirting, but not really.

Well, _maybe_ it was borderline flirting, and but Carlos didn't really think of it like that. He honestly thought it was just silly fun with his best friend. But Kendall flew off the deep end once when Carlos told him that he called Logan "cupcake" as a joke. Ever since then, he's kind of kept it to a minimum and in those instances where he did be a little more playful with his best friend than he probably should be, he never told Kendall about it.

The bathroom door swung back open with a still flustered Logan appearing on the other side, grumbling something under his breath as he made his way over to Carlos, quickly snatching a towel out of his hands. Small giggles were heard being forced back by the shorter boy which only made Logan grumble even more. "Let's just go," he spat, ignoring the way Carlos was convulsing behind him as he held in his laughter. It really wasn't that funny. Honestly. So he can just shut up already.

Finally managing to suck up his snickering, Carlos ran over to the door, holding it open and quickly ushering Logan out, his small words, "Ladies first," not going unnoticed, earning him a quick smack in the face with a towel before they both were treading down the hallway. The two bickered a bit more on their trek through the Palm Woods, finally coming to a truce once they made it outside.

Walking seemed to be the easier way to get to the beach, despite the distance. Logan still only had a learner's permit and neither of them felt like finding an adult they could shove into the car to make it legal for him to drive. Calling a cab and taking the bus were out of the question, because of money purposes, not that they didn't have the money, they were just all saving up so they could get a new gaming system. That, and buses scared Carlos. "Weirdos and creeps and scary homeless people always ride the bus. And they always smell like pee," he had said and Logan couldn't argue with that logic.

Logan didn't mind having to walk such a great distance. It was good best friend bonding time the more he thought about it. Plus, walking is always a great way to clear one's mind, and that's exactly what he needed to do. Empty his mind of all the Jett drama and his worries and all the bad things. In fact, if it weren't for Carlos, he would probably be brooding in his room instead, stuffing his face into his pillow and wallowing around in his own self pity like a little girl. And that just wasn't cool on _so_ many levels. Being a whiny little bitch just isn't Logan's style.

A smile worked its way onto his face as he listened to Carlos ramble on about how there aren't any dangers about sharks coming and eating them or something strange like that. He honestly felt like the luckiest guy on the planet to have a best friend like Carlos, and he couldn't ask for a better one.


End file.
